1 . Some Questions About Coronavirus
How long does coronavirus last?
Every case of coronavirus is different, but experts have a general idea of how long the typical course of the illness lasts. Most people can expect to recover within two weeks after the onset of symptoms, but more severe cases could last up to six weeks — and for some, dubbed “Covid long haulers,” symptoms can linger for months.
What are the symptoms of the coronavirus?
Symptoms of the coronavirus can seem a lot like the flu. Initially, a fever, cough, and shortness of breath emerged as the three most common symptoms of COVID-19. Now, other signs such as muscle pain, fatigue, and loss of taste and smell are on the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) symptoms checklist.
How long does coronavirus live on surfaces?
Though the conronavirus is typically transmitted through the air via respiratory droplets (from an infected person sneezing or coughing) rather than by touching objects and materials, the virus can still remain viable on variety of surfaces, according to the CDC, though it’s not exactly clear for how long.
How is coronavirus spread?
According to the CDC, COVID-19 is spread mainly from person to person, usually through close contact (within six feet). Being near an infected person who coughs, sneezes, or talks can expose you to their respiratory droplet carrying the virus — and they can spread the virus even if they don’t have any symptoms yet. If those virus-containing particles are inhaled (吸入) or land in your eyes, nose or mouth, you could become infected.
1. How long does coronavirus stay on surfaces?| A．Two weeks. | B．Six weeks. | C．Months. | D．Unclear. |
| A．contacting close (within six feet) |
| B．being near an infected person |
| C．talking with a healthy person |
| D．inhaling some virus-containing particles |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Health. | C．Education | D．Travel. |
2 . When ads for the Netflix show Stranger Things first appeared in 2016, the shinning, colorful font (字体) that spelled out the title told viewers exactly what they could expect. Hollywood has long known this marketing trick. And in a crowded marketplace, many mainstream consumer brands have placed more focus on fonts as a crucial part of their marketing.
When Southwest Airlines upgraded its brand in 2014, it changed its font and logo as part of the project.
The company wanted to create the image of an airline that cared about customer loyalty. So, Southwest changed its Helvetica font to a thicker, custom﹣made Southwest Sans font, which also added a tricolor (三色的) heart to the logo. All these changes were meant to convey a softer, friendlier tone.
A survey of Southwest customers showed that 95 percent found the new identity appealing. "We've definitely seen an increase in bookings." said Helen Limpitlaw at Southwest Airlines. "We're in a very competitive world and we're trying to avoid that sameness."
The right fonts can help brands stand out in a competitive market. However, they need to know whom they are targeting and what they want to say. Monster Beverage is a good example. In 2002, it rolled out its Monster Energy drink logo, featuring three neon﹣green claw marks in the shape of an "M" on a black background. The eye﹣catching logo and colors connected with fans of sports, who were exactly its target customers. Now, 17 years later, Monster's logo remains valuable and recognizable.
It is not always wise of legacy companies (老牌公司) to make changes in fonts and logo. When the clothing retailer Gap changed its iconic spire-like font to Helvetica as part of a 2010 rebrand, customers pushed back hard. "The new logo lost all the personality the original mark had acquired over the years," said Matt See, senior art director at a branding and communications firm. "And it was released without explanation. It felt like no thought was put into it." The company ultimately switched back to its original logo.
Experts recommended that companies conduct plenty of surveys before making a change to their logos. Done right, fonts allow brands to show their human side and personality, which can then connect with consumers emotionally.
1. The function of Para 1 is________.| A．to introduce the topic |
| B．to promote the Netflix show |
| C．to show the background |
| D．to present the unevenly shaded font |
| A．it deleted its tricolor heart logo |
| B．it conveyed a strong and cooperative tone |
| C．it drew on its experience gained from the real life |
| D．it chose a special font that reflected its personality as a brand |
| A．a company should think twice before rebranding itself |
| B．there is no need for a legacy company to upgrade its brand |
| C．a company should ignore customers' advice when it comes to rebranding |
| D．it's possible for a company to attract new customers by changing its logo |
| A．Fonts should avoid the sameness. |
| B．Fonts matter in upgrading the brand. |
| C．Changes of fonts are out of date. |
| D．Companies need to change fonts. |
3 . We all need waler to survive, but the general recommendation has been to drink more and more, with many guidelines now advising a minimum of eight glasses a day. Is there any evidence showing that this makes sense? The short answer is no. Studies looking at water intakes over 10 years in the elderly fail to show any benefits of extra water on kidney function or lifespan.
Clever marketing from bottled water companies has not only convinced us that we need to drink more water, but also that expensive bottled mineral water is somehow better for us. We now drink more bottled water than ever before, with the global industry growing rapidly at 10 percent a year. By 2025, the global market is estimated to be worth ＄215 billion. But research shows that tap water nowadays is perfectly safe, and with added fluoride （氨化物）, it is also good for our teeth. There have been studies showing that tap water contains traces of common pharmaceutical（制药的）drugs, but they have also found the same levels when testing bottled water. Although water in many areas contains chemicals, the levels are too small to make a noticeable difference to our health.
Bottled water has devastating environmental costs, which is self﹣evident as there are already abundant reports on pollution caused by plastic bottles, and no proven health benefits. And, does it taste better?Probably not. On the contrary, there are even blind tastings showing that tap water scores higher than most mineral water.
So, still hesitate when presented with both bottled water and tap water?Probably you should not now. My advice is to stick with tap water: you will be reducing the global environmental cost of half a trillion plastic bottles piling up each year and taking a stand against the power of marketing.
1. According to the first paragraph，we can know________.| A．eight glasses of water a day does harm to the elderly. |
| B．eight glasses of water a day isn't so scientific as we thought. |
| C．water is essential for us to survive. |
| D．drinking extra water benefits our kidney. |
| A．Tap water contains too much common pharmaceutical drugs. |
| B．Bottled water is rich in various minerals. |
| C．People are influenced by bottled water companies' marketing strategies. |
| D．Tap water is not so tasty as bottled water. |
| A．Potential. |
| B．Beneficial. |
| C．Challenging. |
| D．Damaging. |
| A．The more water we drink， the healthier we will be. |
| B．Tap water should become our first choice of drinking. |
| C．Both bottled water and tap water should be our main choices when thirsty. |
| D．Bottled water and tap water both have a lot of advantages. |
4 . CHINA'S FOUR GREAT NOVELS
China's Four Great Novels came out in the 14th to 18th centuries during the Ming（1368﹣1644）and Qing（1644﹣1911）Dynasties， concurrent with the European Renaissance ﹣ which popularized the use of everyday language in Chinese literature. Professor Andrew Plaks， in his book Four Masterworks of the Ming and Qing Novel， observes that these fictional works used popular storytelling styles to increase societal norms and juxtaposed （把…并列）them against a set of flawed characters in order to raise serious questions about heroism， selfhood， and love.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Luo Guanzhong （1330﹣1400）
Chinese literature's first chapter﹣based novel which draws from the historic power struggle between the Three Kingdoms of Wei， Shu， and Wu （220﹣280）.
Sample line： "The long divided must unite， the long united must divide； thus it has ever been."
Western similarity： Game of Thrones
Journey to the West
Wu Cheng'en （1500﹣1582）
Most widely told story of the four， it is a fictionalized account of the real pilgrimage（朝圣）to India of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang （602﹣664）.
Sample line： "Heaven and earth were once a chaotic whole， borderless and shapeless， without any beings whatsoever."
Western similarity： The Lord of the Rings and Don Quixote （《唐•吉诃德》）
Water Margin
Shi Nai'an （1296﹣1370）
A work of controversial authorship based on the true story of the bandit Song Jiang and his 36 rebels in the late years of North Song Dynasty（960﹣1127）.
Sample line："It's easier to draw a tiger than to sketch its bones；it's easier to know someone's look than the contents of his heart."
Western similarity： Robin Hood
Dream of the Red Chamber
Cao Xueqin （1715﹣1763）
Semi﹣biographical work，on the basis of author's personal experience，with over 600 named characters，about the decline of Qing Dynasty society. Sold over 100 million copies.
Sample line： Pages full of idle words； penned with hot and bitter tears； all men call the author fool；none his secret message hears.
Western similarity： Shakespeare with a dose of Jane Austen.
1. Which novel is released in the Qing Dynasty？| A．Romance of the Three Kingdoms. |
| B．Journey to the West. |
| C．Water Margin. |
| D．Dream of the Red Chamber. |
| A．Robin Hood. |
| B．Game of Thrones. |
| C．Don Quixote. |
| D．Shakespeare with a dose of Jane Austen. |
| A．They are all concerned with the personal heroism. |
| B．Each sample line is the main idea of each novel. |
| C．The four novels more or less draw from true stories. |
| D．The four novels are all related to the authors' lives. |
5 . For all its drawbacks, aging brings a benefit: social relationships generally improve. Older individuals have fewer but closer friendships, avoid conflicts, and are more optimistic compared with younger adults. Now, 20 years of data on chimpanzees suggest they, too, develop more meaningful friendships as they age.
“The finding challenges a long-standing assumption that humans mellow (成熟) with age because we are aware of our approaching death.” said Zarin Machanda, a professor at Tufts University. But finding the same pattern in chimps suggests a simpler explanation: It could be an evolved trait found in a wider range of species. Zarin and her colleagues gathered data from the Kibale Chimpanzee Project, which has tracked wild chimpanzee behavior in Uganda’s Kibale National Park since 1987. Because chimps are socially similar to humans — they live in large groups and engage in both cooperative and antagonistic (敌对的) relationships throughout their lives — they serve as an ideal test group for studying changes in social behavior. The researchers zeroed in on the males, who had more purely peer-to-peer relationships than females.
Combing through 21 years of behavioral logs on 21 chimps aged 15 through 58, the researchers found that older males (aged 35 and up) had more mutual friendships than younger ones. Older “friends” would sit together and groom one another on a regular basis, whereas younger chimps were more likely to engage in one-sided relationships, in which they groomed preferred elders who rarely returned the favor. As males age and fall in rank, they stop competing for dominance and “tend to give up”. Forming these cooperative relationships with peers could help older males maintain their status, helping them fend off challenges by younger and fitter chimps.
The team are eager to see whether other chimpanzee groups—and female chimpanzees—also experience this mellowing with age. Machanda says the theory could also be tested in other long-lived social species. Next, however, the team will take a deeper look at how social bonds might benefit aging chimps - and whether the same mechanisms could be at work in humans. “There is a lot more to learn,” Machanda says.
1. The author writes Paragraph 1 to ________| A．introduce the topic about the finding on chimps. |
| B．compare chimps with humans in social behaviors. |
| C．show that humans mature as they age is a mere misunderstanding. |
| D．stress that aging is very terrifying not only for humans but also for animals. |
| A．Because chimps look like humans in so many ways. |
| B．Because chimps are easy to track down in the wild. |
| C．Because chimps bear resemblance to humans in social behaviors. |
| D．Because chimps live in large groups together throughout their lives. |
| A．It took the researchers 21 years to study the elderly chimps. |
| B．Older males exhibit mutual friendship among the group. |
| C．Younger males prefer to groom the elders because they respect them. |
| D．Elderly chimps will continue to fight to maintain their status as they age. |
| A．There’s no need to study the female chimpanzees for the theory. |
| B．It would be better to test other species who live a short life as well. |
| C．They have learned fairly enough about how aging affects animal behaviors. |
| D．The study on aging chimps would help better understand human interactions. |
6 . Energy drinks aren’t technically a “food”. That’s not to trash them — it’s just a fact, and an important one at that. The Food & Drug Administration regulates all products defined as food to ensure they’re safe for human consumption. Coffee drinks and soda, for instance, aren’t allowed to be too high in caffeine in case they cause heart problems. But energy drinks are classified as supplements, which means they’re unregulated. Hence, manufacturers are free to add as much caffeine inside a single can as they please. They can even mix caffeine with other stimulants (兴奋剂) in such a way that could cause cardiovascular or nervous system problems.
That’s why physicians have been trying to investigate what the health effects of these caffeinated drinks might be. A new study showing that a single drink can diminish blood vessel (血管) function is making headlines, but similar findings have been increasing for years now.
A lot of the concern about these drinks comes from their high concentrations of stimulants. It’s entirely possible to overdose on caffeine alone, and in combination with guarana, another stimulant, smaller amounts might have severe effects. Overdosing on caffeine doesn’t necessarily result in death, but it can cause heart palpitations (心悸), nausea, vomiting, and hypertension. The WHO study also reports that adults who consume energy drinks may be increasing their risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes.
Despite the WHO’s recommendation that caffeine content be limited per beverage, energy drinks in the U. S. are still totally unregulated and will remain that way unless they get reclassified as a food. They may not be dangerous in small quantities, but nothing about them is healthy. Switch to coffee or tea, both of which will energize you in the morning and will be much harder to overdo it with. Or you could just go ahead and work on kicking your caffeine habit for good.
1. Why energy drinks are hard to regulate?| A．Because they contain a lot of caffeine. |
| B．Because they cause heart problems. |
| C．Because they are not categorized as food. |
| D．Because they are allowed to be high caffeine. |
| A．A new study shows that energy drinks are harmful to humans. |
| B．As for now, energy drinks are not regulated in the United States. |
| C．Physician are going to evaluate the effect of energy drinks in the following studies. |
| D．Energy drinks together with other harmful ingredients could damage one’s well-being. |
| A．Overdosing on caffeine directly contributes to death. |
| B．Energy drinks play a negative role on affecting people’s well-being. |
| C．People won’t get addicted to caffeine only by consuming energy drinks. |
| D．Adults’ consuming energy drinks may increase the possibility of the risk of diabetes. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Ambiguous. | C．Disapproving. | D．Indifferent. |
7 . When you hear the beginning of your favorite song from the radio, suddenly your neck is covered in goose bumps.
It's such a thing that a group of scientists call “skin excitement”—a feeling of cold caused not by a drop in temperature or sudden scare, but by the sense of beauty. “Skin excitement” can come from a song, a painting, a moving movie scene, or even a beloved memory-pretty much anything that causes the giving out of pleasure-soaked dopamine in your brain. But it does not come for all of us.
Your favorite music uncovers a lot about your personality，and so does how you respond to that music. Studies suppose that as few as 55 percent of people experience “skin excitement” when listening to music. And if you count yourself among this group, the goose bumps on your skin aren't the only giveaway—scientists can read it in your brain, too. In a new study published in the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Harvard researchers performed brain scans on 10 students who said they reliably got cold when listening to music, and 10 students who didn't. They found that the cold-prone brains may really be excited by stronger emotions.
Cold-prone brains are generally more likely to show stronger emotional intelligence than no-cold brains. Cold-prone minds tend to have unusual active imagination, reflect more deeply on their emotions, and appreciate nature and the beauty of music and art to a stronger degree than no-cold brains.
So, what type of music causes the chills? It seems that the type is not so important; participants in the new study reported getting cold from songs of every kind. And any song connected with a strong emotional memory of the listener can produce the most reliable results. For me, that's the song Sailing to Philadelphia by Mark Knopfler, which I listened to as a kid in the car with my dad, on the way to the summer camp.
1. What can we learn about “skin excitement” in the text?| A．It helps to produce doparmine. | B．It is caused by the pain in the skin. |
| C．It can be experienced by every music listener. | D．It is the human body's reaction to something nice. |
| A．The percentage of music lovers in students. |
| B．The solutions to the goose bumps on one's skin. |
| C．The differences between cold-prone and no-cold brains. |
| D．The relationship between one's music preference and personality. |
| A．Beautiful and intelligent. | B．Emotional and dishonest. |
| C．Imaginative and sensitive. | D．Brave and strong-minded. |
| A．Responses to Music Vary among People | B．A Feeling of Cold Is Caused by Horrible Music |
| C．Your Favorite Music Reveals Your Personality | D．Favorite Music May Bring Forth Goose Bumps |
8 . Justice in society must include both a fair trial to the accused and the selection of an appropriate punishment for those proven guilty. Because justice is regarded as one form of equality, we find in its earlier expression the idea of a punishment equal to the crime. “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is such an example. This conception of retributive justice (报应正义) is reflected in many parts of the legal codes and procedures of modern times, especially when the death penalty is demanded for a person who has committed murder. This philosophy of punishment was supported by the German idealist Hegel. He believed that the criminal had by his own actions denied (否定) his true self and it is necessary to do something that will counteract (抵制) the denial and restore the self that has been denied. To the murderer nothing less than giving up his own life will pay his debt.
Modern jurists (法学家) have tried to replace retributive justice with the idea of corrective justice. The aim of the latter is not to abandon the concept of equality but to find a more adequate way to express it. It tries to preserve the idea of equal opportunity for each person to realize the best that is in him. The criminal is regarded as being socially ill and in need of treatment that will enable him to become a normal member. Only those criminals who are incurable should be permanently separated from the rest of society. This does not mean that criminals will escape punishment. It means that the goal of justice is to cure the person, not simply to get even with him. If severe punishment is the only adequate means of accomplishing this, it should be administered. However, the person should be given every opportunity to assume a normal place in society. His crime must not deprive him of the opportunity to make his way in the society of which he is a part.
1. Why is “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” presented?| A．To give moral support to retributive justice. |
| B．To prove that equality demands just punishment. |
| C．To justify the need for punishment as a part of law. |
| D．To prove that man has long been interested in justice. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Disapproving. | C．Supportive. | D．Cautious. |
| A．The type of crime that was proven. | B．The severity of the punishment. |
| C．The reason for the sentence. | D．The outcome of the trial. |
| A．Fitting the punishment to the crime | B．Approaches to just punishment |
| C．Attaining justice in the courts | D．Improvements in legal justice |
9 . How do you deal with plastic bags from the supermarket? Throw them away or reuse them? How about eating them?
Indian company EnviGreen has made a bag with natural ingredients (成分). It looks and feels just like plastic, but can be broken down easily. The bags bring no harm to the environment. Both humans and animals can safely eat them.
EnviGreen founder Ashwath Hedge spent four years doing experiments with a combination of 12 natural ingredients. They include potato, corn, vegetable oil and banana. He made the ingredients into liquid and used the liquid to make the bag. Although the EnviGreen bag is about 35 percent more expensive than a common plastic bag, it has many advantages. According to the Wall Street Journal, it takes 1,000 years for common plastic bags to break down. But an EnviGreen bag can naturally break down in less than 180 days. It also breaks down in less than a day in water, and in about 15 seconds in boiling water. Hedge was happy to show it in his interview with The Better India. In the interview, he put an EnviGreen bag in water and ate it with a smile.
According to India’s Minister of State for Atmosphere, Forest and Weather Change, the country produces more than 15,000 tons of plastic waste every day. But only 9,000 tons are processed. In China, 3 billion plastic bags are used every day. Maybe the EnviGreen bag could be a solution to the world problem of plastic pollution.
1. Why is the EnviGreen bag eatable?| A．Because it looks like plastic. |
| B．Because it can be broken down easily. |
| C．Because it consists of natural ingredients. |
| D．Because it does no harm to the environment. |
| A．¥ 0.85. | B．¥ 0.675. | C．¥ 0.65. | D．¥ 0.475. |
| A．It took him less than four years to succeed. |
| B．He made a special liquid to form the material. |
| C．He combined 4 kinds of food to create the EnviGreen bag. |
| D．The EnviGreen bag can naturally break down in 15 seconds. |
| A．Plastic pollution can be controlled with combined efforts. |
| B．India has benefited a lot from adopting the EnviGreen bag. |
| C．Chinese government has paid attention to plastic pollution. |
| D．Plastic pollution is a severe problem in some developing countries. |
10 . She was returning from teaching out in a small community. It was a black, moonless night, and a heavy snow was falling.
She thought back to the time when she had first started teaching out in small communities. During those days she had always picked up hitchhikers (搭便车者), until the day her sister told her that one of her friends had been shot in the head by a hitchhiker, all because she had stopped out of kindness to help him during a storm.
Her family didn't stop worrying about her safety over the hitchhikers until the family heard the promise: “No more hitchhikers!” The snow that night was making her think back to this.
Then she saw a man waving. She slowed down for him, but as he ran toward the car in the dark, she shook with fear. Yet she thought that if he was truly in need, she couldn't leave him here in this storm.
The stranger explained that his car was dead, and she told him to get in. They drove for an hour into the next city and she took him to a convenience store. She waited until he had made a call. When he reported back to her that a family member would soon come to pick him up, she wished him well and then left.
Tears fell on her cheeks as she drove away. It felt as though she had been holding her breath for an hour.
“I hope they'll understand why I had to break my promise,” she thought.
1. What made the woman's family worried about her safety?| A．She had been hurt by a hitchhiker. |
| B．A friend of her sister's was killed by a hitchhiker. |
| C．There were often snowstorms on her way home. |
| D．Her car often broke down on her way home. |
| A．his car had broken down | B．he would die |
| C．he couldn't find his way home | D．he couldn't get in touch with his friends |
| A．She was sorry to pick up the stranger. |
| B．She felt too tired to breathe. |
| C．She had been afraid of being with the stranger. |
| D．She had been too careful when driving in the storm. |
| A．A safety problem | B．An important hitchhiker |
| C．A friendly stranger | D．A broken promise |
